Interesting stuff » Life 'n' Such

Earth Day Everyday

Its Earth Day today, now does that not sound funny to you all? Should you not be concerned about your residence (the big picture here, not your little apartment, or your cozy little home) 24/7, 365 days?

After all, we are not dinosaurs. I would not want to suddenly cease to exist, and become fossil, (I mean untimely no, but when the time comes, sure, why not).

Well, happy earth day, baby steps we shall take, and one day we shall live in harmony with Mother Earth, (or is it Mother nature).

Take care!

P. F. Chang’s (pf chang) – Chinese Bistro / Restaurant

Do you crave Chinese food, well, then Google the nearest P. F. Chang’s and get there for dinner tonight. Its AWESOME!!

I especially loved the dynamite shrimp and the lettuce wraps. And oh the dessert!!!! It was coconut pineapple ice cream, drizzled with creamy caramel, with banana spring rolls on the side. Sounds weird huh? But, you gotta taste it!! Its heavenly!!

Interesting Article on Yahoo!

Read this:

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/health/food-that-can-fix-almost-anything-1098283/#photoViewer=1

Now you know buddy, why to eat good food?

(I am telling myself, stay away from Chocolate chip cookie, and grab a bunch of grapes from the refrigerator)

Bizarre Foods on Travel Channel

I just caught the Bizarre foods show on Travel channel hosted by Andrew Zimmern ( I hoped I spelled his last name right), and guess what, it was featuring the different types of food found in Delhi, India. Yeah!!!

They showed street food, five star restaurants, home cooked meals prepared by a Delhi local woman, and a Kashmiri feast hosted by one of the top designers of India, Rohit Bal.

Awesome…it was just great to see the streets of Delhi. Of course the food was the best part of the show, except a few things (liver, kidneys, and parts of lamb I don’t want to name aye) But, they are delicacies, I hear people say, and I am not one to comment, especially when I haven’t eaten any of those.

Some of the restaurants featured in the show: Al Jawahar (opposite Jamma Masjid), Bukhara (inside the Maurya Hotel), and some nameless street vendors selling whipped creamy dessert, fruit sandwich (something new huh?).

Well, all in all, I just want to take the next flight home, where I could just dive into the sea of endless options available.

You can eat like a king on any budget. That is India!

Thanks Andrew, you rock! (I know you missed the Chaat, you could not eat because of the water used to prepare it, which was so not sterilized! But, in case you feel like eating it, you are welcome, I make a mean chaat! (eaten with Tangy tamarind sauce, and hot green pepper and garlic chutney, fantastic!)

Recycle is the new mantra!

You know, how green I am, (hey…I didn’t mean ‘green with envy’), but how environmentally conscious I am. I was on this site: http://www.realsimple.com and I found these unique ways that you can reuse some of the common household things.

My favorites:

Using an empty tissue box as a plastic bag dispenser

Using a ketchup bottle to pour out pancake batter

straightening/flat iron to iron in between buttons on a shirt/blouse

Store shoes in a wine-bottle carton (wrapped with pretty wrapping paper)

Unused glass case can be used for storing beauty items-to-go

tissue-bags

Picture source: realsimple.com

Soup a day, keeps the Doctor away

I was just reading this article on Yahoo by Dr. Maoshing Ni (who practices Chinese Medicine, and writes for Yahoo Health Section) about the benefits of having soup once a day. One particular paragraph stood out to me. I have quoted him below:

“When you slowly simmer foods over low heat, you gently leach out the energetic and therapeutic properties of the foods, preserving the nutritional value of the foods. Keep in mind that boiling can destroy half of the vitamins found in vegetables, so cook soup over a low heat.”

I find this interesting, now I am going to think in a whole different way while cooking. Slow heat, and simmer is the best way to retain maximum vitamins.

Read full article here:

http://health.yahoo.com/experts/drmao/23125/soup-therapy-detoxify-lose-weight-and-boost-immunity/;_ylt=AhmcjsX4it.cCUazi7EMeVt1kIV4

Macy’s – Shoe sale – upto 75% off! Yipee!

Okay, okay, so I was supposed to come straight home after visiting Mrs. Vanards house. But, even with dropping blood sugar (I was super hungry, cant think straight, nor walk straight when that happens), I had to drive by our local Macy’s store. And lo and behold….there they were hanging off the hooks; not 30, not 40, not 50, but at 75% off. My blood sugar dropped lower, I had to go touch them, feel them, wear them, and wobbling I went by the narrow aisles, looking up and down, up and down, checking the bottoms for my size, and oh yes, to my delight, there they were sitting pretty (and @ 75% off), next to each other, not too many but a few, but that was enough for me. Now, all was forgotten, hunger, blood sugar, everything.

Then I heard this ringing in my head, it was getting louder and louder, I looked around, and slowly it came back to me. It was my telephone, deep down in my purse. I answered, said ‘Hello’, I heard my baby crying loudly. I instantly sprang out of the store, looking just once back to the pretty shoes, and making a mental note to myself, to come back soon, before they landed in some other lucky girls feet.

I know, I know too much dramatisation, move over James Cameron… next year Oscar goes to Me!!!

But you get the point, go go, go shopping. Tips for shoe shopping: Go in the evening, Wear easy on and off shoes, and dont be afraid to try on something you dont like first, you never know what will look go on you.

Dishwasher tip

When we were visiting Mumtaaz aunty in Canada, she gave me this simple tip of putting your spoons and stuff in the dishwasher caddy upside down. If you have new dishwashers, they have the caddy with separators in them, so your spoons, forks, knives come out clean. But if you dont, follow Mumtaaz aunty’s tip!

My Europe Trip (Oct 2008) – Review, advice, tips

Okay, I admit, I also wanted to go to Europe, after seeing DDLJ (Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge), meet my Rahul, have fun, roll down the beautiful green moutains and the snow covered alps. Hey, dont judge me, if you are a desi girl like myself, you have been in the same dream right next to me, crooning your heart out on Shahrukh Khan (for those who dont know much about Indian culture and movies, DDLJ is a hit movie back in the days, and S Khan was a new bollywood moviestar).

I dont see how you could backpack your way through Europe. Its crazy expensive.

In Switzerland, there are a whole lot of mountains, a whole lot of beautiful cows, with bells around their necks, and a whole lot of either grass or snow on the mountains. And oh yes, the lakes. So overall, it is very beautiful. Definitely a destination for honeymoon.

The two things I did that I enjoyed the most in Switzerland are: Toboganning and Para gliding. Totally worth it. Infact toboganning is not that expensive too. We did it only a couple times, because of the time constraint. Para gliding was awesome! I think we paid something like $150 (for 20 mins of flight and the picture CD). You feel like a bird. I am not kidding.

Zurich is a wonderful city. Nice to walk through the streets.

I love Paris, no matter how cliche it sounds. Also, I ate crepes with chocolate and banana topping in Paris(yes; at a road side cafe).

We visited the Louvre museum, to see the Mona Lisa, (super disappointed – because it is sooooooo small in size, and they dont let you get close to it). But I think museum is fun, if you get a guide who would explain the history behind the art. I got bored soon. Beautiful yes, but for a art major, it would be Disney Land.

Eiffel Tower on the other hand, totally awesome. I would recommend getting there during day light, so you can make the most of the parks around it, have kind of a picnic. Look at the beautiful bridges, admire the beautiful old buildings, oh I miss Paris.

We rented a car, we bought a GPS with Europe maps (totally worth it), but I think sometimes, it makes sense to just get lost. Our trip started at Amsterdam, drove through Germany (stayed at a very nice Wegner Hotel (very nice people, family owned I think, delicious breakfast). Most of the trip we were in Switzerland; Grindelwald (you can take a train from here to Jungfrau), Zurich, Interlaken, Geneva, etc. Then drove to Paris, finally from there back to Amsterdam (lived in a very nice BnB). We drove on highways in Germany and France, would definitely recommend to take inner roads once in a while.

So, recap: Love: Toboganning, Para gliding, Paris!

New look for the blog

Hey friends, what do you think of this theme for the blog. I have to yet give it a serious design intervention, but I just thought a fresh cool look was needed for the new year. Its work in progress, this is just a temp. Any ideas are welcome.